Fire hydrants are well known in the art and, in most communities, are located in spaced apart relationship in order to provide a source of water to fireman in fighting a fire within the proximity of the particular hydrant. Most fire hydrants are painted in bright colors to indicate their presence to traveling motorists, firefighters and other first responders. A fire hydrant that is not highly visible can pose a threat to travelling motorists, and may not be readily identifiable to firefighters. Moreover, the inability of a firefighter to locate a fire hydrant may delay the commencement of the fire fighting activities and thus endanger both life and property.
It is also common in the United States to mark fire hydrants according to a color code representing water flow capacity in accordance with standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). For example, light blue for Class AA indicates a flow rate of more than 1,500 gallons per minute (GPM); green for Class A indicates a flow rate of between 1,000-1,499 GPM; orange for Class B indicates a flow rate of between 500-999 GPM; and red for Class C indicates a flow rate between 0-499 GPM. Historically, although not common practice, color coding has been accomplished by simply painting the tops and nozzle caps of each fire hydrant housing with the appropriate color, preferably with reflective paint.
While this methodology of color coding fire hydrants has assisted firefighters in identifying the flow rate of a particular fire hydrant, it is not without its limitations. For example, weathering of paint applied to the fire hydrants causes a major maintenance problem for cities and municipalities. As paint, including reflective paint, weathers, the colors fade, making the fire hydrants more difficult to see, particularly in low light conditions. Further, as water supply capabilities and capacities change, it is common for a hydrant flow rating to change as well. Many cities have fire safety codes which require their hydrants to be periodically tested to make sure they are in working order and that they are properly flow rated. With conventional color painting schemes, this means that, as flow capacities change, portions of each affected fire hydrant should be repainted to reflect the hydrant's current flow rating. Due to the difficulty and expense involved in repainting, it is not uncommon for fire hydrants to be improperly color coded. Finally, even freshly painted fire hydrants are difficult to spot at night, particularly in poorly lighted neighborhoods. The ability to quickly spot and hook up to a fire hydrant is critical for firefighters in minimizing property damage and the potential for loss of life.
Other marking systems exist for identifying fire hydrants, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,507 (Simpson). Simpson discloses attaching a collar with reflective tape to a fire hydrant to increase visibility of the fire hydrant, and to alert firefighters to the particular flow rating of the hydrant. However, the Simpson device is a relatively bulky collar that appears expensive to manufacture and cumbersome to use. Moreover, the reflective tape used in Simpson only discloses the flow rating of the hydrant, and not any additional information about the hydrant. For example, it is also desirable for a firefighter to know other information about the particular fire hydrant before utilizing the same including, without limitation, the source of the water for the hydrant and the pressure rating of the hydrant. Many firefighters spend precious time during an emergency trying to determine this type of information, which leads to unnecessary delay in fighting the fire and can result in the unnecessary loss of life and/or property.
Consequently, there exists in the art a long-felt need for an improved multi-purpose reflective collar for attachment to a fire hydrant that not only increases the visibility of the hydrant to motorists and others, but that also provides firefighters and other first responders with a wealth of information about the hydrant to which it is attached. More specifically, there is a long-felt need for an improved multi-purpose reflective collar for attachment to a fire hydrant that advises firefighters and other first responders of at least the hydrant's flow rate, water source and pressure rating, and that is adjustable to accommodate fire hydrants of different shapes and sizes. Finally, there is a long-felt need for a device that accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives and that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to use.